......”Born in Emporia, Kansas in 1944 as Ronald Lee Ermey, he grew up as a bit of a hell-raiser. Having been arrested for criminal mischief twice by age 17, he was given a choice of jail time or the military. He chose the Marine Corps. and served as a drill instructor in San Diego in the mid 1960s. He was eventually sent to Vietnam and served 14 months in that country. He was later a staff sergeant in Okinawa, but was medically discharged in 1972 because of injuries during his service. He later received an honorary promotion to gunnery sergeant by the Marines.”
